For Austin L. Church, business isn’t about chasing every new opportunity. It’s about focusing on the essentials, cutting back the noise, and doubling down on what works.
As a growth advisor and founder of Freelance Cake, Austin helps companies and independent professionals find clarity, refine strategy, and build sustainability into their work. His frameworks and philosophies bridge the worlds of business coaching and marketing leadership, giving him a perspective that resonates with both sides of the freelancer-brand equation.
A Nonlinear Path Into Business
Austin didn’t set out to become a growth advisor. With a background in literature and poetry, he stumbled into marketing after school and quickly discovered how much he enjoyed copywriting, strategy, and problem-solving. A layoff early in his career pushed him into entrepreneurship, and what followed were a series of “mini careers” that connected writing, business, and marketing in unexpected ways.
That winding path is what makes his approach unique. Rather than teaching from theory alone, Austin pulls from lived experience across multiple industries and roles. Today, he focuses on helping small but growing companies (typically $1-10M in revenue) and freelancers alike “find the path to better” by zeroing in on what actually drives results.
Unlocking Growth Through Shareable Advantages
Every individual has certain innate strengths — personality traits, education, or natural talent. But Austin encourages leaders and freelancers to look beyond what’s inborn to what he calls shareable advantages: skills, offers, and strategies that can be developed and passed on to others.
Some shareable advantages he highlights include:
- Juicy Offers: Customers don’t buy generic services; they buy solutions to urgent, expensive problems. Packaging a commoditized service (like HVAC repair) into a compelling, risk-free offer can transform a business overnight.
- Positioning: Instead of defining yourself against competitors, align your brand against your audience’s most painful problem. Positioning against urgency and need creates relevance that competitors can’t easily match.
- Storytelling: Stories are harder to argue with than claims. Sharing experiences creates empathy and credibility that AI or automation can’t replicate.
Shareable advantages level the playing field. They’re learnable, repeatable, and accessible to anyone willing to apply them.
Strategic Subtraction: Why Less Really Is More
One of Austin’s strongest themes is “growth by subtraction.” Businesses, like living systems, tend to grow more complex over time. Yet complexity doesn’t scale.
Adding more products, channels, or offers can feel like progress, but in reality, it often dilutes focus and resources. Austin advises pruning back to concentrate on fewer, stronger initiatives:
- Audit what’s working: Tools like his “20 Stories” exercise help leaders identify what strategies have historically brought in customers, and double down on those instead of chasing shiny new tactics.
- Eliminate complexity: Too many offers or campaigns can undermine even the best positioning. Simplify until what’s left is easier to scale.
- Do “less but better”: Inspired by Dieter Rams’ design principle, Austin stresses the importance of courage in cutting back. Subtraction isn’t loss; it’s a strategy for focus, clarity, and efficiency.
This mindset doesn’t just apply to companies. Freelancers and individuals, too, often find more satisfaction and success by reducing scattered efforts and investing more deeply in fewer, high-impact areas.
Content as an Expanding Surface Area
While Austin downplays his own content skills, his perspective on building a personal brand is instructive. He argues that content is less about perfection and more about consistency, intent, and service.
Instead of viewing content as a fleeting output, he reframes it as a compounding asset. Each post, article, or video expands the surface area where potential clients or collaborators can discover you. And while not every post needs to be polished, the act of showing up consistently signals authority and builds visibility.
The takeaway is that content should be treated as an investment. When it’s rooted in service — sharing ideas that genuinely help others — it creates resonance that compounds into long-term credibility.
Bridging the Freelancer-Leader Divide
ClearVoice sits at the intersection of brands and freelancers, and Austin’s experience on both sides gives him practical insight into what makes these collaborations succeed.
He emphasizes empathy and communication as the foundation of strong partnerships. Leaders often juggle shifting priorities and internal pressure, while freelancers seek clarity and direction. Misalignment can easily arise, but it’s rarely intentional. Freelancers who proactively ask questions and “manage up” help projects stay on track, while leaders who treat freelancers as partners rather than vendors foster loyalty and better results.
When both sides give each other the benefit of the doubt and commit to open dialogue, they create an environment where great work thrives.
Building Sustainability in an Uncertain Market
With AI and economic uncertainty reshaping creative industries, many professionals are asking: what’s next?
Austin’s perspective is refreshingly grounded: stop waiting for certainty. It’s not coming. Instead, optimize for confidence and joy. That means focusing on the work you enjoy most, aligning it with what the market values, and applying frameworks like positioning and subtraction to ensure your business is both effective and sustainable.
By choosing work that energizes rather than drains, freelancers and leaders alike can create a business they don’t resent — one that endures even when conditions shift.
Finding the Path to Better
Austin’s philosophy ties back to a simple truth: growth doesn’t come from doing more. It comes from doing less, with clarity, intention, and empathy.
For businesses, that may mean pruning offers or doubling down on proven channels. For freelancers, it may mean leaning into shareable advantages or creating content that compounds over time. For both, it means remembering that sustainability lies in focus and joy.
At ClearVoice, we believe in these same principles. Our platform connects brands with expert freelancers and provides the strategy, structure, and support to simplify content production without sacrificing quality. Because when leaders and creators align around what matters most, the results speak for themselves.
Want more insights from marketing leaders and freelancers? Explore other episodes of CV MIC to hear how industry voices are shaping the future of content. Or connect with a content specialist to talk more about your content goals.
Catch More CV MIC Conversations
If you found Austin’s insights valuable, don’t miss these other episodes:
